By SHAWN DELL JOYCE
Creators Syndicate
Most of us are surveying the damages right now. All the packages are wrapped and under the tree; the credit cards are maxed; and we spent more than we intended to. Now we have to decide where to put all the new stuff, especially those new gadgets we just had to have and waited in line for during the wee hours after Thanksgiving.
Only about 1 percent of all the consumer goods bought during the holiday season will be in use six months from now, says Annie Leonard in "The Story of Stuff," a short film produced by Free Range Studios and available for free online at www.StoryOfStuff.com.
"The Story of Stuff" chronicles the life of consumer goods from the cradle to the grave and offers an alternative vision to our consumerist culture. Leonard points out that we have lost our identities as mothers, farmers, teachers, etc.; we have become consumers.
Indeed, we are defined by what we consume and are targeted demographically by stuff peddlers from infancy to old age. In our culture, we feel awkward if we don't have "the right stuff" -- fashionable clothes, flashy bling or the newest gadget. What we don't often see are the consequences of our national addiction to stuff.
We see more advertisements in one year than our grandparents did in their whole lifetimes. We consume twice as much as they did as a result. Our houses are twice as big; our waistlines are bigger; and our savings accounts are considerably smaller. The U.S. has 5 percent of the world's population but consumes 30 percent of the world's resources and creates 30 percent of the world's waste, according to "The Story of Stuff." We already have used one-third of the world's natural resources and quickly are chewing our way through the rest.
Melissa Everett, executive director of Sustainable Hudson Valley, defines "sustainable living" as "not filling a spiritual need with a material thing." People buy stuff for many reasons, but for a substantial segment of our population, shopping is an addiction.
"Compulsive shopping or spending can be a seasonal balm for the depression, anxiety and loneliness during the December holiday season," says professor Ruth Engs of Indiana University.
If living more simply is one of your New Year's resolutions, here are a few suggestions:
Author and therapist April Lane Benson, who wrote "I Shop, Therefore I Am," recommends that before you make an impulse purchase, ask yourself: Why am I here? How do I feel? Do I need this? What if I wait? How will I pay for it? Where will I put it?
Buy used things and borrow from friends and neighbors before buying new things.
Repair and update computers rather than buying new ones.
Develop habits of zero waste. Use both sides of paper; carry your own mugs and shopping bags; get printer cartridges refilled instead of replaced; compost food scraps; and avoid bottled water and other over-packaged products.
The average person in the U.S. watches TV for more than four hours a day, notes "The Story of Stuff." So four hours each day are filled with messages about stuff we should buy. That is time that could be spent with family, friends and in our communities.
Recycling saves energy and reduces both waste and the pressure to use more resources. Unfortunately, many cities still don't have adequate recycling systems and need public pressure at the local government level. Start pre-cycling; buy the least amount of packaging, or skip buying it altogether!
Shopping is not the solution to personal or environmental problems. The real changes we need just aren't for sale in even the greenest shop. Learn to live more simply so that others may simply live.
"The Story of Stuff" chronicles America's love affair with stuff and traces the path of our stuff from the cradle to the grave. "The Story of Stuff" is available for free online, courtesy of Free Range Studios, at www.StoryOfStuff.com.
